A Tricksters' Truth?
by MissMeep
Summary: What started out as a regular day, turned into a storytelling day, that involved no tennis at all, (to Sanada's horror) when the Rikkaidai team requests the meaning of puri. Niou answers, but his obliging attitude hides a different intention! Curiosity appears, lies are formed on the spot, and it's all orchestrated by a sly, manipulating Trickster of the court.


**Rikkaidai's Tennis Courts**

"Hey Niou-senpai! Niou-senpai! Wanna play a match with me? Yanagi-senpai wants to test my skills in doubles. I told him he was just wasting his time, my skills are _godly_. But yeah, come play a match with me!" Kirihara Akaya shouted across the courts.

Niou looked up and stared. _Akaya playing _doubles? "I thought you gave up on doubles, Aka-chan," Niou tilted his head slightly. "_Puri_."

"I did not!" Akaya snapped indignantly. "I play doubles just as well as the person behind me!"

"Sanada doesn't play_ doubles. _And isn't he why you don't play doubles?" Niou's lips twitched upwards. _This was going to be _fun.

"Just because fukubuchou _sucks_ at doubles doesn't mean I can't play doubles," Akaya pouted. Marui choked on his gum, while Yanagi sighed.

Akaya squeaked and ducked behind Yagyuu. The gentleman sidestepped neatly and pushed his glasses up. Sanada's eyes narrowed. "Akaya. Run some laps."

"I was just being honest," the ace mumbled. Then he asked, "How many laps, fukubuchou?"

"As many as it takes until practice ends." Came the blunt reply.

"Say _what_? That's over a hundred laps!" Akaya whined.

"Would you rather play a match against me?" Sanada lifted an eyebrow.

Yanagi sighed again. "Genichirou, I was _trying _to get some data, so Akaya can run his laps tomorrow. Is that all right?" Yanagi asked, his eyes opening slightly. Sanada glared at Akaya, then he nodded. Maybe Sanada wanted to see Niou pound Akaya in doubles. As long as Sanada wasn't teamed up with Akaya.

Niou smirked and twirled his racquet. "Yanagi, you're partners with Aka-chan? _Puri_."

"I am. Hiroshi, will you come here please? We'll be starting now." Yanagi positioned himself at the baseline.

* * *

"Smooth or rough?" Yagyuu asked.

"Smooth!" Akaya called. Yagyuu nodded and the racquet landed on the rough side.

"_Puri_. Better luck next time, Aka-chan," Niou called, and he tossed the ball up and served.

Akaya glared at Niou. "Hey senpai! What does _puri_ even mean?"

Niou's eyes widened fractionally. "Well..."

Everyone on the courts stared at Niou. Yanagi opened his eyes.

"Why is everyone looking at me?" Niou looked away. _Well this is awkward. Everyone's staring._

"We wanna know what _puri _means," Marui explained, popping his gum.

"_Piyo_." Niou looked uncomfortable. "Sanada, why don't you tell them to go back to practice?"

"..." Sanada simply stared at Niou, his eyes questioning. Niou sighed.

"Well. _Puri_ is a sort of ice cream, and I say _puri_, since I'm hungry."

"Seriously? All this time, you were just hungry? That's why you always take my sweets!" Marui looked torn; should he be angry or amused?

"Oh no, I just liked seeing your reaction to me taking your sweets. I'm more partial to spicy foods," Niou grinned.

Marui settled for being angry and whacked Niou on the head.

"Hang on senpai! Don't kill Niou senpai, yet. He didn't tell us what _piyo_ means!" Akaya quickly grabbed Marui's arms and heaved backwards.

"Oh, okay. I'll kill you and avenge my candies later Niou," Marui grumbled.

Niou decided he would take a very long time to 'explain' the definition of _piyo. _He took on a patronizing tone and started to explain. "Well, you see Aka-chan, Bun-chan...When God made the world, he made trees. Green, green trees. When he made trees, he noticed, the trees looked bored and lonely. So to make the soil on the ground more interesting to our human eyes, God created marmots. Marmots are little mammals, that eat vegetables and stuff. You know?" Niou paused to check his audience's reaction.

Akaya flapped his hand and gestured for him to go on. Marui rolled his eyes. Sanada was re-taping his racquet, while Yagyuu had pulled out some scientific looking book and was showing it to Yanagi.

Niou decided to continue, "So mammals. D'you know what those are Aka-chan?"

Akaya shook his head wordlessly. "Mammals are various warm-blooded vertebrate animals of the class Mammalia, including humans, characterized by a covering of hair on the skin and, in the female, milk-producing mammary glands for nourishing the young," Niou quoted.

"Mammary glands?" Akaya echoed.

Niou nodded wisely. Poor Akaya wouldn't understand this, but stalling was an _art_, not just some random words jumbled together. This explanation made _sense_ for smart people. Like Yanagi, Yagyuu, and _maybe_ Sanada?

"Anyways. So we covered soil, marmots, and mammals right?" Niou asked cheerily.

Marui nodded, speechless. Who knew that Niou could come up with something like that on the spot?

"So, mammals are marmots. I mean, marmots are mammals. So the secret to _piyo_ is..." All the regulars leaned towards Niou slightly, ears perked up.

"The secret is?" Yagyuu asked, his face smooth and expressionless.

"The secret is..." Niou smirked.

Everyone cupped their ears for better hearing.

"_Piyo _is a sound whales make! _Piyo, piyo_! _Puri_." All the Rikkaidai Regulars sighed. Niou really had them fooled this time.

Akaya's eyes watered in disappointment. "Niou-senpai. What do marmots have to do with whales? You lied to me! You told me _puri_ was an ice cream cake, and now you tell me _piyo _means whales?"

"Did you just make that up on the spot Niou?" Marui scratched his chin. It sounded like a load of bull to him.

Yanagi opened his eyes, and glared at Niou. He was _angry_.

"Masaharu." Yanagi's voice was like splintered ice. "Masaharu. You, have just _wasted _my entire practice, with those false explanations. According to my data, _puri _is a small, round, flat piece of bread made of unleavened wheat flour, deep-fried and served with meat or vegetables. _Piyo_, on the other hand, is a sound birds make. Not whales. So Masaharu has just kindly wasted our practice. Genichirou?"

Sanada stood up, his eyes darkening. Niou gulped. _Oh shit_. "Niou. Akaya. Marui. Tomorrow, warm up, and start running until practice ends. Yukimura and Jackal will be back tomorrow, so it'll be a longer practice. Understand?"

Akaya, Marui, and Niou nodded mutely. Yagyuu pushed his glasses up, "At least we know what _piyo _and _puri_ means now. Right? _Pupina._" And Yagyuu tugged at his hair, revealing silvery blue hair underneath.

"Niou! You-" Akaya snarled furiously, his eyes going bloodshot.

"Son of a tricking-" Marui started, his hands clenched into fists.

The real Yagyuu sighed. Yanagi had spoiled all the fun. But at least now he knew what _piyo _and _puri really_ meant. But-

_What does _pupina _mean? _Everyone wondered.

Niou smirked slyly. "_Pupina._"


End file.
